1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to hearing aids for the aurally impaired. Specifically, the invention relates to a hearing aid which is readily customized to the specific hearing characteristics and prescription requirements of the hearing impaired.
The quality and characteristics of hearing are very much like sight in that differences exist between individuals depending on the age and condition of the sensory organ. Significant advances have been in the optical arts to enable an individual to obtain corrective lenses specific to prescription requirements based on actual measurements of the quality of sight. A fitting of eyeglasses or other corrective lenses, for example, typically involves the testing of easily controlled optical parameters with actual corrective lenses having the specified characteristics. The user may therefore personally judge the quality and operability of the precise prosthetic prior to final acceptance.
In the present state of the hearing aid art, considerably less control and flexibility is available to the hearing impaired user. Few parameters controlling the various characteristics of the hearing aid amplifier are readily controlled. Typically, a hearing aid amplifier consists of one or two stages of amplification with some frequency response shaping intended as a compromise for generally encountered hearing impairments. Little, if any, attention is given to the specific characteristics of hearing of the individual in need of a prosthetic.
There is therefore a need for a new type of hearing aid which can be specifically and interactively adapted to the hearing characteristics of individuals having hearing impairments.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Tuned amplifiers are well-known to the electrical arts. Frequency-domain, band-limited controllable equalizers and compressors are also known. However, none is known which is of sufficiently small size and portability to be incorporated into a hearing aid. Wiring interconnections, power considerations, need for access to control elements, and the specialized needs of the hearing impaired have in the past suggested that miniature sound amplifiers with a large number of control variables is impractical for hearing aid applications. Accordingly, there has been no known effort to provide a low-cost, easily programmable hearing aid amplifier.